I'm not sure I really liked this book. I would have lived it more if Claudia was narrating it the whole time, but I didn't like how the book always skipped around. Also, it did make me uncomfortable. I know that you said it is good to read books that make you feel uncomfortable, so I guess that was good, but it's tough to read about rape.
I thought that when the "Spring" section began, that it would be lighter and happier, since Spring often symbolizes rebirth/new beginnings. I was very surprised when it was none of that.
When we watched the video in class about the picture ads and women (sorry I forget the name) it mentioned that women are often portrayed as objects. Because of this, it makes it easier to abuse someone. I thought that was relevant to the book. The women all seem like objects and then men can do whatever they want to them. Mr. Henry touches Claudia, Cholly rapes Pecola, and everyone is beaten/whipped.
I thought it was interesting when the girls described Maginot Line/Miss Marie because it sounded like they were describing a tree. It was also sad to see that Mrs.Breedlove was nicer to the girl she was watching than her own daughter.
One thing I did like about this book was how they gave the back story on Pauline and Cholly. Pauline seemed like any other girl, she wanted to feel pretty and understood and just jumped at the opportunity to marry someone who saw her that way.
(Side note on page 116 when they are describing the brownness of the teeth, everyone in Africa had that and they had teeth missing. I wonder if that is just an African American thing?)
I liked when it said that Pauline went to the movies and then she learned about physical beauty. It's a bad drug, it's terrible and it makes me mad that there is an example of a 'perfect' person.
I thought they married too quickly. They may have had "young love" but it quickly fell apart. I thought that Pauline had a fine upbringing other than her foot, but I felt like Cholly was destined for failure. He was left on a railroad, raised by a great aunt, watched by white men, and rejected by his dad. I can't imagine having to go through all of that and imagining how sad I would have been. In part 1, I thought that the dad was just a crazy dick. But now after learning his story, I have more compassion. That doesn't mean I'm okay with what he did, it just means that I can kind of see how it happened.
On page 127, they are describing a little white girl getting bathed. I could see all of this in my head. I could imagine this happening, but then I realized that if it was a black child, I don't think I could have imagined that just because that's never something that's really shown. I haven't really read many books where the characters are black, but I feel like that's because there really aren't that many compared to the amount of books there are where characters are white.
ALSO what is up with Soaphead Church? I don't get why he's just introduced at the end of the book. I understand how it relates to the title because the girl comes and asks him, but I'm not sure why he was a character and why he was introduced so late in the novel. That kind of bugged me. And how can he be all religious and then force the girl to kill a dog???
I really like Claudia and Frieda and it's a shame that they aren't in the novel more. Are they still considered main characters even though the story focuses more on Pecola and her family?
I feel like Claudia and Frieda are super compassionate, especially when they want to pray to God to help Pecola and even bury their money. That's so sweet and it brought some happiness into the book.
Lastly, I don't understand the dialogue on page 193. I know one of the girls in Pecola, but who is the other? And what is the author's purpose in including it? I'm just confused by the whole conversation. Is it supposed to serve as a recap of the book in a way?
This book was just okay. I would rate it like 6/10. I really didn't like how the characters were switching and the narrator didn't remain the same. I thought that really ruined the story for me. But it was also better than some of the other books we read.
I'm looking forward to reading "The Absolutely True Diary....(i dont want to type the whole name out since it is long but I probably should have instead of typing this side note). I've read that book like 3 times and I love it.
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